CIAN DAYRIT

Cian Dayrit (1989) studied at the art school of the University of the Philippines. He was awarded the Ateneo Art Awards in 2017 and the CCP Thirteen Artists Awards in 2018. He has shown his work at home (Bellas Artes Outpost; Vargas Museum; MET; Lopez Memorial Museum; CCP) and abroad (Para Site, HK; New Museum, NY). Dayrit’s work deals with the impacts of the globalized economy and its powerful ideology (including the use of coded language, e.g. visualized in maps) on the spaces of everyday life. For the current exhibition, he shows Yuta Nagi Panaad (i.e. ‘Promised Land’). This tapestry work is a map that aims to visualize the expanding borders of mineral extraction, agri-business plantations and their effects on the communities and the ecology of Mindanao, Philippines. Mindanao has a history of colonialism, exploitation and displacement of its people. Today, foreign multinationals receive protection from local paramilitary organizations and Mindanao has been under martial law since 2017, which means that locals have no avenue to voice concerns and protests.